South St. Paul native Alex Stalock will make his first start in the NHL in more than a year on Thursday when the Minnesota Wild hosts the Ottawa Senators at Xcel Energy Center.
It's been a long road back for the former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog, who didn't see as much action during his final season with the San Jose Sharks. Signed by the Wild during the offseason, the goaltender has spent the entire season getting reps with Iowa of the American Hockey League, rounding his game back into form.
It was a bit of a vicious cycle for Stalock last season in San Jose, as he played in just 13 games, posting a 2.94 goals against average and a save percentage of .884. The lack of playing time made it difficult to find any sort of groove, while his lack of success in the games he did play made it hard to give him more playing time.
A free agent for the first time last summer, Stalock wanted to find a place to get back in the crease, even if that meant playing in the AHL.
"I think just playing the minutes again," Stalock said. "For a goalie it's crucial to play back-to-backs or games consecutively to get some confidence and roll with it; to have the ability to play a lot of minutes and it's been good."
Stalock found himself in much the same position that Darcy Kuemper finds himself in currently with the Wild. Playing behind Devan Dubnyk most of the season, Kuemper hasn't had consistent playing time to stay sharp. And with the condensed schedule the past couple of weeks, even practice reps have been tough to come by.
"It's unfair to throw [Kuemper] in as a backup when we haven't had a chance to practice and he plays once every two weeks, and he goes in and we're asking him to do the right things," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "Alex has done a great job down in Iowa, with two shutouts in the last week. He was sick earlier in the season, but right now, he's one of the better goalies in the American Hockey League, he's playing every day, so he's feeling it."
Save for a stretch of November, when he was battling an illness, Stalock has been a big part of Iowa's surge toward a potential playoff spot this season, posting a 20-16-7 record with a 2.31 goals against average and a .924 save percentage in 45 games.
With Dubnyk needing a rest down the stretch, and both he and Kuemper needing practice reps, Boudreau thought this was a good opportunity to get a hot goalie some playing time while also giving the Wild its best chance to earn valuable points in the standings.
"I think one of the great things that we're doing here is [Dubnyk] had a chance to practice yesterday and he had a chance to practice today and he has chance to practice tomorrow," Boudreau said. "He worked very hard the last two days on getting back to the things that he's doing wrong. I think that'll continue and it'll make him better for it."
